Stray Cats: A Crossover
by Ghost
Summary: Gatomon is by accident sent through a portal, ending up in a whole different world. She stumbles upon Meowth, who agrees to help her find a way home. Meowth has plans of his own, though. But can he find it in his heart to follow them through?
1. Prolouge

Stray Cats ****

Stray Cats

A Crossover

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Ghost: Hello, and welcome to my story. Due to the unexpected outage of Fanfiction.Net a while ago I was able to finish all chapters…

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Annoying Guy: Did you hear that? The story is finished! Ghost actually finished a story! Can you believe it?

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Ghost: _BOLT 3!_

*A huge bolt of lighting, _a lá_ Final Fantasy, strikes the Annoying Guy, leaving only a scorched crater*

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Ghost: Ehm, as I was saying, I was able to finish all chapters at once and upload them all at the same time. Before we begin, I would like to mention a few things. 

First of all, this fic was supposed to be parallel to Anna Sartin's "Shattered Soul" which is without a doubt the best Rocketshipper fanfic I have ever read. However, the Rocketshippy parts never actually happened in this fic, since I felt I had to concentrate more on Gatomon and Meowth. Since I have little or no control over how my stories develop, things like that are bound to happen. Still, "Shattered Soul" is a true masterpiece and I suggest anyone who is into Rocketshipping or romance in general to take a look at it. 

Second, from Digimon's perspective this story is supposed to take place during Season 1, during the period where the Digidestined are facing the Dark Masters, but I must admit that I don't know anything about this period, since they are currently still trying to locate the Eight Child and defeat Myotismon over here. I might change it later, but it will have to due for now. Please have patience with eventual inconsistencies. For the same reason I know very little about Gatomon, and my portrayal of her is based on assumptions and information I've gathered from (a very few) fanfics. I only hope that I've done her character justice. I should also mention that Meowth doesn't speak in any particular accent in our translation, but I did my best after consulting some other fics.

More so, this is _not_ a Gatomon/Meowth Romance as much as it is a Gatomon/Meowth friendship fic on which I can base a possible Romance later.

Finally, I do not want to hear anyone going "That Pokémon could easily beat up that Digimon!" or "That Digimon would tie that Pokémon in a knot!" because I'm not the slightest interested in that. Gatomon wins and loses because it suites the plot, so live with it, okay? 

But enough of these lame excuses now! Let's begin the actual story, shall we?

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Prologue: 

"Oh no!" Gatomon exclaimed as she was thrown into a tree so hard that it snapped in two by the punch of her enemy. It hurt like hell and she felt rather dazed, but she tried to clear her head and get back into the fight. The other's needed her. The Digidestined had arrived prepared for a fight against a Tengumon, a rare and aggressive but not that powerful Virus Digimon that had terrorised the area for quite some time. What they found, however, was a fully digivolved and quite insane SkullTengumon, and that "Skull" part had proven to be a considerable difference. This creature, a huge, black behemoth that looked like a feathered Devidramon with a beak and wearing a bone-armour, had immediately begun to kick their collective arses hard. Even when they worked together they only managed to push him back, and time was running out, along with their energy.

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"Eldrich Bolt!" SkullTengumon shouted and a flood of green energy left the palm of his hand. WereGarurumon barely managed to dodge the blast that decimated a large part of the landscape. Gatomon knew how much that attack hurt, even though she hadn't taken a direct hit. Palmon was already down, having taken a hit not even Lillymon could shake off. 

"Now would be a great time to digivolve," Gatomon muttered to herself as she charged. She had underestimated the speed of SkullTengumon, and she would not do so again. She easily dodged his swiping claws and aimed her own Lighting Claw attack.

"We have to do something drastic!" Tai shouted. "Izzy, Matt, anyone? This would be a good time to find a weakness."

"I think I have found one," Izzy answered. "His Eldrich Bolts are somehow unstable. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I suspect that if we hit it just before…"

"Sounds great," Matt said. "It's not like we have much to choice anyway."

"Right!" Tai said. "Attack that Eldrich energy of his!"

SkullTengumon did not listen to them, he was paying more attention to the annoying cat-Digimon that had given it some rather painful but not fatal slashes with her claws, and was just about to crush her with his fist when a Giga Blast from MetalGreymon hit him in the side and threw him to the ground. He quickly got up and flapped his wings in irritation. His red eyes glowed from rage and insanity.

"I will destroy you!" he yelled. "All of you!" Between his hands, a bulge of green energy was building. Another Eldrich Blast, but this one much larger and far more powerful. It would surely mean the end if he were allowed to fire it. _"Eldrich…"_

"Now!" MetalGreymon shouted. _"Giga Blaster!"_

"Wing Blade!"

"Wolf claw!"

All attacks hit into the glowing orb of mystical energy. It exploded in a blinding light and the explosion shook the ground. SkullTengumon was immediately vaporised into data, but a large, swirling portal of white energy was left in his place.

"What the heck is that?" Tai shouted.

"It's some sort of portal!" Izzy said. "Like the one we arrived in, or the one that appeared after we defeated Etemon."

An invisible force seemed to pull them towards the portal. The pull increased for every second. Gatomon, who had been the closest to SkullTengumon, tried to stop herself with her claws, but they simply plowed though the soft ground, leaving six long marks. "Guys! Help!"

"Why do I get a feeling that this isn't a way home?" Joe said and held on to a tree. "Somebody do something!"

The Digimon tried their best to stay away from the portal and help their human friends. Except for Gatomon, who was slowly being pulled into the portal. "Kari!" she shouted.

"Gatomon!" Kari cried. "Somebody help her!"

But it was too late. Gatomon lost her grip of the ground and was sucked into the swirling vortex. 

"Gatomon! No!" Kari yelled. 

And then the portal suddenly seemed to lose its power. It shrunk and finally vanished completely, leaving the Digimon and the Digidestined to wonder about the fate of their friend.

***

Note: In case you are wondering, Tengumon and SkullTengumon are creations of my own twisted mind. In the next chapter Gatomon finds herself in a whole different world and has a run-in with some Pokémon trainers.


	2. The Arrival of Gatomon

Chapter I: The Arrival of Gatomon ****

Chapter I: The Arrival of Gatomon

It was a quiet, sunny day in the outskirts of Viridian Forest. The two young Pokémon trainers could probably not have picked a more normal day to go for a Pokémon hunt. Or so they thought. They were about the same age, but the blond Kay was somewhat taller then his dark-haired friend Tim. They were both dressed like regular Pokémon trainers, Kay in a red I-shirt, black shorts, sneakers and fingerless gloves, Tim in a casual white T-shirt, a blue vest, red shorts and sneakers. Both had come to see if they couldn't find a rare Pokémon or two, and Kay was as optimistic as he always was when the sun was shining. Tim, however, was not as merry at all, being firmly convinced that they were not going to find anything.

"We're not going to find anything," he said. "You do understand that, Kay? I cannot believe I let you drag me into this!"

"Tim, don't be so negative," Kay said. "I'm sure we'll find an interesting Pokémon."

"Kay, there is no interesting Pokémon in this forest!" Tim complained. "I've been here before, you know. Besides, you know I'm only interested in water Pokémon."

"Specialisation like that will get you nowhere," Kay said. "Come on, man, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's having a better time then me," Tim grumbled. "Dude, I've said it before and I'll say it again; we are not going to find anything when haven't seen a hundred times…"

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ZAPOFF!

A white light appeared in front of the two kids, and they shielded their eyes. When they looked back, they saw a white, feline little creature that was shaking its head and looking around. It seemed as confused as they were. Kay turned to his shorter friend and grinned.

"You were saying?"

"What the heck is that?" Tim said and brought up his Pokédex while Gatomon looked at them, still a little confused.

"Eh, excuse me, but could you please till me…" she began.

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"Pokédex searching. No entry," Tim's Pokédex said.

"All right! An unidentified Pokémon!" Tim shouted.

"Ehm, _excuse _me!"

"And it can even talk!" Tim continued, paying no attention to what the Digimon was actually trying to say. "This is a dream come true!"

"Oh, no Kay! We are _never _going to find _anything _interesting in this forest!" Kay said while trying to mimic Tim's voice.

"Okay, okay!" Tim said, clearly very irritated. "You can gloat later, let's just catch it?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Gatomon said, starting to get angry.

"Go Pokéball!" Tim shouted and threw a spherical object at Gatomon. Reacting instantly she hit it hard with her paw, sending it back from whence it came. The Pokéball hit Tim right between the eyes, knocking him off his feet. "Ouaaow!"

"Nice try, Timmy," Kay said and held another Pokéball in Gatomon's direction. "Let's see you take throw this one back! Go, Growlithe!"

The ball opened and a flash of white light released itself from it's inner. Gatomon stared as a creature in the form of some sort of small dog appeared in front of her. Its fur went in brown and beige, and it had black striped on its back and legs. It gave her a challenging look. Within a blink of an eye Gatomon had analysed the situation. The two human's were some kind of Digidestined, albeit unfriendly ones, who had just made a completely unknown Digimon appear in front of her. It did not look so formidable, but Gatomon knew better then to underestimate her opponents. She awaited her opponent's next move, and she did not need to wait for long.

"Growlithe, Flamethrower!" Kay shouted. The Growlithe opened its mouth, and Gatomon reacted on pure instinct, ducking for the enormous flame coming straight for her. 

"Hot stuff, puppy," Gatomon growled as she felt her fur sizzle in the heat. "But this kitty is faster then that!" She decided not to give the Growlithe time to hit her again, and launched forward. After all, attack was the best defence in her book. _"Lighting Claw!"_

She did not want to hurt the creature seriously, since there was still a chance that it all was some kind of misunderstanding. Her claws gave the Growlithe some deep scratches, which made it cry out in pain, but it was nothing life threatening. She ended it with a hard kick that sent it flying backwards. It slumped to the ground and struggled to get up.

"Growlithe, return!" Kay shouted, and the Growlithe turned into red energy and returned to the Pokéball. "Holly cow! Did you see that!"

"It must be of a very high level," Tim said. "We better work together if we are to take it down."

Gatomon was not at all amused in how the humans referred to her as "it" and by their way of talking about her, she realised that it was indeed not a mistake, and that they were here enemies. She took a battle stance, deciding to give it all she had. "Bring it on!" she hissed.

"Go, Scyther!" Kay said and threw another Pokéball.

"Squirtle, go!" Tim shouted and did the same. Two more flashes, and then two new creatures stood before Gatomon.

The first one looked like a small turtle with big eyes and a stupid grin on his face. Gatomon would have bursts out laughing if she hadn't been so focused on the upcoming battle. The other one looked more fearsome, a green insectoid creature that looked amazingly much like a very small and way less monstrous Snimon. Even though it was smaller, it was still much larger then Gatomon.

"Squirtle, use Watergun!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle shouted and drew a deep breath before releasing a thick ray of water on Gatomon. She gagged and tried to shield herself from the water.

"Hey! Cut it out! You're messing up my fur!" she shouted.

"Scyther, Quick Attack!" Kay said. 

Before Gatomon had the time to react, something greed bashed in to her and tackled her hard. She finally got out of Squirtle's Watergun, and realised that had been the Scyther. It slashed at her with one of its blades, but she managed to duck it. Now standing between Scyther and Squirtle, Gatomon noticed that the turtle-creature was preparing another Watergun. She quickly ducked and the ray of high-pressured water hit Scyther instead. The power of the attack pushed him back, and Gatomon had bought precious little time to act. Deciding that the Scyther was a dangerous foe as it was without the Squirtle helping it out she rushed forward and started raining blows and kicks at it. By the time the Scyther had recovered, Squirtle was in no condition to fight.

"Squirtle, return!" Tim shouted and retrieved the Pokémon.

"Scyther, Slash!" Kay yelled, determined not to let his prise get away.

"Scyythrrr!" Scyther hissed and came at her with its blades.

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"Lighting Claw!" Gatomon shouted and countered the attack. The two of them moved so fast that the Pokémon trainers could not follow. Gatomon traded attacks with parries and held herself on the defensive until she found a hole in Scyther's defence. Her vicious jab connected with Scyther's head and threw the Pokémon off its feet, sending it up in the air and then down again. It hit the ground with a low 'thud', but immediately got up again although it was not as steady on its feet this time.

"Scyther, Swords Dance!" Kay ordered. The Scyther made a quick series of movements and launched forward, attacking once again. This time Gatomon found it hard to keep up, as if the Scyther had received a power boost. She decided she could not keep this up, and pushed the insectoid Pokémon away from her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and it was all Gatomon needed.

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"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!" 

Suddenly the Scyther froze and just stood there, staring at the Digimon. 

"What happened?" Kay asked. "Scyther's paralysed!"

Gatomon knew she had to end the fight quickly and ran towards the hypnotised Scyther. Putting all her strength behind it, her uppercut sent it flying and it fell to the ground once again. "And stay down!" Gatomon shouted.

"Scyther, return!" Kay said. Both of the Pokémon trainers couldn't quite grasp what they had just witnessed.

"We'll be famous, do you understand that?" Kay said.

"We have to catch it first, but it just manhandled three of our better Pokémon," Tim said.

"Hello? I'm _standing _here?" Gatomon said.

"Double Team Time?" Kay asked.

"Double Team Time," Tim nodded. Both raised their Pokéballs in the same time.

"You two never give up, do you?" Gatomon asked. "Bring it on, I dare you!"

"Gyarados, I choose you!" Tim shouted.

"Onix, let's get it on!" Kay yelled.

It was the same flash of light as before, but instead of an opponent of her own size Gatomon now stared up upon two giant serpents. One had a hide of thick scales and fins like a dragon and horrible fangs that could swallow Gatomon whole. The other one was even larger and seemed to be made out of rock. Both glared at the little cat-Digimon.

Gatomon looked at Gyarados, and then at Onix, and then at Gyarados again.

"Er, nope," she said, slowly backing off. "I don't think so." And then she darted towards the relative safety of the trees. She heard one of the humans shout something, and the ground exploded next to her, almost ripping a tree up with the roots. Soon Gatomon had disappeared into the woods. Making sure she had managed to shake the two monsters and their master's off, she leaned towards a tree and slipped down on the ground.

"I'm in big trouble now," she sighed. 

When Gatomon disappeared into the forest, Kay and Tim retrieved Gyarados and Onix since they felt that tearing up the forest was a bad idea.

"Where did it go?" Tim asked.

"I don't know, but we have to get back to Viridian," Kay said. "Our Pokémon need to get to a Pokécenter."

"Should we tell anyone about that Pokémon?" Tim asked, glancing at the woods.

Kay thought for a moment. "Yes. I guess it will leak out anyway, and we might as well try to get a piece of the fame even if we don't succeed in catching it. Besides, we don't know if it's dangerous to humans or something. It's our duty."

"Okay," Tim said. "But you do realise that every Pokémon trainer in Viridian will be after it."

"Yeah," Kay said and smiled. "But I like a challenge. Come on."

Both of them turned around and headed back to the town, not really knowing what kind of creature they had just encountered, or what events they had just started.


	3. The Hunt of Meowth

Chapter II: The Hunt of Meowth ****

Chapter II: The Hunt of Meowth

Later the same day, a Meowth was walking the streets of Viridian. That wasn't such a big deal, even though most Meowths preferred to walk the streets at night, but this one was special. For starters, it walked on two legs instead of the usual four. Even more unusual was that this Meowth could speak human tongue perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. He was also a member of the notorious criminal organisation known as Team Rocket, usually stealing other people's Pokémon for a living. It might seem odd that a Pokémon was stealing other Pokémon, but Meowth reasoned that it was no worse then some of the things human's did to each other, and it was all business for him anyway. Today, however, Meowth was in a bad mood. For several months he and his teammates, Jessie and James, had been trying to get their hands (or paws, in Meowth's case) on a particularly powerful Pikachu belonging to a kid named Ash Ketchum. Each try to apprehend the Pokémon had somehow failed, and finally Meowth had had enough, called them both a couple of morons and left Team Rocket HQ. He was currently heading down the street without really knowing what to do next. He still wasn't ready to return to his friends. 

Suddenly he noticed a large mass of people next to the Pokécentre, looking at a piece of paper that someone had put up on the wall. Most of them seemed to be Pokémon trainers. Meowth went up to one of them.

"What's goin' on here, kid?" he asked.

"Some Pokémon trainers encountered a mysterious, unidentified Pokémon in the forest," the trainer said without looking down. "They said it was very powerful and used attacks they had never seen before." He suddenly realised that he was talking to a voice that came from his knees. He looked down. "Hey! You're a Meowth!"

"Yeah, wanna make someting of it?" Meowth said and grinned as he showed him his claws. The trainer, who probably had experience in the pain claws like those could create, sweatdropped and backed off. "Oh, no thanks. I'm just a bit surprised to meet a talking Meowth, hehehe! Oh, and that reminds me, the trainers that meet that unidentified Pokémon said that it could talk just like a human."

"Is dat so?" Meowth said. Deep within his mind a scheme had started to form. Pokémon were not greedy creatures by nature, but Meowth had spent so much time trying to be as human as possible that he had developed several personality traits normally only found in humans, and greed was one of his specialities. "An' what kind of Pokémon was it, yous said?"

"Some sort of cat-like Pokémon," the trainer said. "There is a picture of it on the wall over there."

A talking cat-like Pokémon? Meowth started to think that it all felt a little creepy, but his curiosity was almost as great as his greed and he hurried to push his way through the crowd. "Outta my way! Let Meowth through!" he said and finally reached the wall. He looked up and studied the image. It was obviously made after directions by a person who hadn't seen the creature personally, but it gave a pretty clear picture on what to look for. The Pokémon on the image looked mainly like a Meowth, but with white fur and without the oval coin in the forehead. It had much longer ears that ended in three purple spikes. The long, snake-like tail ended in three similar spikes, and the front legs were covered with tiger-like fur. It had long, vicious claws on the paws. Over all, Meowth found it both interesting and a bit scary. Maybe it was a relative to his own race. But it did not matter much. Meowth had now devised a plan. If he could catch this new Pokémon, and then give it to Giovanni, the boss might forgive them for their constant failures to steal Pikachu, and maybe even give them a raise. Perhaps he would even finally get rid of that awful Persian so that Meowth could take his place as the boss' favourite. Maybe…

A girl standing next to him interrupted Meowth's daydreaming. "It says here that Officer Jenny doesn't want us to go after it until they have determined if it's aggressive towards humans."

"Who cares?" a boy said. "I'm not staying here when my ticket to fame and fortune is running around out in the woods, just waiting tofor someone to catch it!" There was a murmur over the crowd, proving that most trainers shared his point of view. So did Meowth. He knew that he had to act in haste, or someone else would get it before him. 

Stepping into an ally, he quickly went through his supply of hardware. "Let's see now. Club, bombs, handgrenades, net, brase knuckles, knives, guns, bazooka, rubber chicken, dynamite… Oh, here it is!" Seemingly out of nowhere he pulled an Ultraball out. "I knew I was gonna need dis one day!" he grinned. "Now I only have ta find dat Pokémon and catch it before da other losers do!" He wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to catch it, especially if it was as powerful as they said it was, but he was confident that it was nothing a set of sharp claws, an even sharper mind and a truckload of outrageous cheating couldn't fix. There was no time to lose, so he bolted out of the ally towards the forest outside the town.


	4. Gatomon vs Meowth

SC4 ****

Chapter III: Gatomon vs Meowth

Gatomon was having a lousy day. Wandering aimlessly through the forest, she had come to a number of conclusions.

Conclusion 1: She was not in the Digital World, but not in the Real World -as the humans called it- either. Both humans and creatures she assumed was some sort of Digimon inhabited this world.

Conclusion 2: When she arrived she had immediately been attacked by what she assumed to be two human slave-hunters of some sort. 

Conclusion 3: The local Digimon where of no help. Most of them either ran away, ignored her or attacked her. Even those she managed to talk to could not help her in her uncomfortable situation, since they only seemed to be able to pronounce the syllables of their own names in different combinations. After unsuccessfully trying to speak to a big, purple rat she gave up trying to communicate.

Conclusion 4: While fighting off those who attacked her (she assumed they were virus, though not all of them were bad) she noticed that they mostly lacked the raw power of the Digimon of her world, but in exchange they were more flexible and with more different attacks, plus the fact that they could take a heck of a beating.

Conclusion 5: She had no idea on how to get home, and missed the others terribly, especially Kari. It made her feel very aggressive, and her claws were itching to make someone pay for her suffering.

She began feeling thirsty after the battles and the walk, so as soon as she heard the sound of running water she changed her course. She didn't know if the slavers were still looking for her, but she knew that she could not hide forever. She only hoped she would find a way out of this mad world soon.

Meowth made his way through the forest as fast as he could, but made sure to be aware of his surroundings. Although most humans could be kind of smart from times to times, they were still just humans. There were some things that humans weren't as good at as Pokémon, and hunting was one of them. Moving silently was another. Meowth was intentionally moving away from the human trainers since he knew that all the noise they made would alert the Pokémon they were looking for. Even though Meowth had been living with humans for a long time, he was still a predator deep within, and while moving through the forest without Jessie and James slowing him down and their chatter to distract him, something had awoken within him. Instincts old as time surfaced. Meowth found himself catching scents carried through the wind, and searching for tracks on the ground. 

After searching for a while he found a track that he didn't recognise. He smiled and thought that he might get used to this wildlife-thing. Following the trace the best he could, he noticed the sound of a creek. The tracks seemed to lead towards it, and Meowth knew that where there was water you would always find Pokémon.

When he got closer he carefully sneaked up from behind a tree and took a look at his surroundings. He was lucky, the Pokémon he was looking for was crouching near the creek, drinking. It stopped momentarily and raised its head. Meowth gasped. She was definitely female, and the picture on the Pokécentre wall had not made her justice. She looked allot less ferocious and also a bit lost. Her blue eyes suddenly swept across the surrounding area, as if she was looking for something. Meowth quickly pulled his head back to behind the tree, hoping she hadn't seen him. He did not want to risk a confrontation, and decided to find a more appropriate hiding place.

Gatomon returned her head to her paws, drinking some more water. Her senses and instincts had been right. She was not alone. She could not see this other one, but she knew that her spectator was out there, watching her.

__

Let's see if I can't persuade you to show yourself, she thought and got up.

Meowth had climbed a suitable tree and had a nice view of the entire area. The unidentified Pokémon moved, quickly retreating into the forest. Meowth frowned and tried to see where she went, but soon lost track of her. Waiting a while to be on the safe side, he climbed down the tree and tried to find out which way she had went. There was something wrong with the entire situation, but he couldn't really put his claw on what. His instincts were screaming at him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He heard a sound from the bushed behind him.

"Oh oh," he said,

"Haaaaa!" Something white pummelled into him from behind. Meowth tried to role with the fall, and got up in time to avoid Gatomon's claws, coming right at him. Without thinking he lashed out at her with his own claws, but missed. This was enough for Gatomon to classify him a hostile, however, and before he could say anything to prove otherwise she was all over him.

Gatomon was one of the most formidable opponents Meowth had ever met, and she bested him both in speed and strength. But he was of a very high level for a Meowth and even though he wasn't much for getting into fights he was an agile and aggressive Pokémon who knew how to get around in a fight. Life as a stray cat and then as a Team Rocket member hadn't left him totally defenceless. He was also larger then Gatomon, even though her speed took the most out of that advantage.

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"Lighting Claw!" Gatomon shouted and Meowth was unable to fully dodge the blow. Her claws scratched him over the chest. The pain was horrible.

"Oh, so dat's how ya wanna do it?" he growled. "Ya asked for it, lady! Slash! Fury Swipes!"

Before Gatomon even had time to react, three thin red lines appeared in her face. For a moment she just stood there, dumbfounded, but then her nerve-signals reached her brain. "Aaaargh! The pain!"

Meowth quickly took advantage over the situation and tackled her. Though it didn't serve to hurt her, she lost her balance momentarily. Meowth took the coin from his forehead. "Pay Day!"

The oval object flew like a shiruken and hit Gatomon in the head. She staggered backwards as it returned to Meowth's paw. He then quickly returned it to his forehead. They both took a defensive position and started circling each other, trying to find an opening. Meowth was impressed, and also rather worried. He had expected to have the time to set up some sort of trap or make preparations, not go in hand-to-hand. They were both pretty scratched up, but he was breathing hard and she did not show any signs of getting tired any time soon. The only thing he could see in her eyes was an unbendable fighting spirit, and he knew that this was a fight that he could impossibly win.

Gatomon lashed out towards him. He hurried to put his paws up. "Wait!" he cried.

She hesitated and lowered her paw somewhat, still not sure what to do. She wasn't much for striking down on enemies that had given up, but this could be a trick. "What?" she asked.

"Well, Meowth sorry if dere has been some misunderstanding," he said. "Meowth tinks we should stop fightin' now, before someone gets hurt."

"You mean before _you _get hurt?" Gatomon and couldn't help but to grin.

"Eh, yeah," Meowth said. "Sometin' like dat."

"Well, okay then," Gatomon said and offered him his paw. "I'd rather be your friend then your enemy anyway. The name's Gatomon. Sorry for ambushing you, but I've been under allot of stress lately."

"I'm Meowth," Meowth said and shook her paw. He felt really relived. Now he only needed to trick this Gatomon to come with him and then he would turn her over to Team Rocket. He was sure that both Jessie and James as well as Giovanni would be proud of him.

"So, Meowth, if you don't mind telling me were I am?" Gatomon said. "I think I've somehow been sent to another world, but I'm not sure which one. It looks like the Real World, but there seem to be both Digimon and humans over here."

"First of all," Meowth said. "We're not Digimon, we're Pokémon. Second, what da heck are yous talkin' bout? Ya mean dat you're not even from dis woid?"

"Something like that," Gatomon said and giggled. She was amused by Meowth peculiar accent.

"What's so funny?" Meowth demanded to know.

"Nothing, I've just never heard an accent like yours before."

"Oh, I'd have yous know dat Meowth is one of da few Pokémon who can talk human," Meowth said, feeling a bit wounded from her remark. No one had ever complained on his accent before.

"Yeah, I noticed," Gatomon said. "Where I come from we all speak perfect human, so you have to excuse me if I'm a bit confused."

"No problem," Meowth said. "Hey, dose trainers will get here soon, we should get goin' if ya don't wanna get caught."

"Are they after you too?" Gatomon asked.

"No, Meowth already have trainers," Meowth said. "Well, actually dey are more of partners dan trainers."

"The ones I ran into weren't that friendly," Gatomon said, frowning at the memory if her earlier battle.

"Some trainers are like dat," Meowth said and they made their way through the forest. "But most treat dere Pokémon wit respect and care."

"I don't get it," Gatomon confessed. "You mean you have nothing against them capturing you and holding you prisoner? What do you do for them anyway?"

"We mostly fight other Pokémon. Two trainers meet, sends dere Pokémon out and den dey fight. The loser's rarely seriously hurt, it's all just a game really."

"And you approve of this?" Gatomon asked. She could not for a moment imagine how someone could agree on fighting people they didn't even know just because their "master" told them to. She had had enough of that herself when serving under Myotismon.

"I'm not really into Pokémon battles myself," Meowth said. "But most Pokémon are. Some more or less live for it."

"This is an odd world," Gatomon sighed. 

And so it continued. The two feline creatures kept talking about their worlds while travelling side by side deeper into the forest.


	5. A Seed of Friendship

Chapter IV: A Seed of Friendship ****

Chapter IV: A Seed of Friendship

"So, you say dat in your woid, there's no humans?" Meowth asked after listening to Gatomon's tale.

"Well, if you don't count the Digidestined, of course, but they aren't from our world anyway," Gatomon said.

"And dey are some sorta Digimon trainers?" Meowth said, who still hadn't quite grasped the entire Digimon/Digidestined thing.

"Not exactly," Gatomon said. "They help us Digivolve into stronger Digimon to fight evil. In fact, that was how I ended up here in the first place."

Meowth was fascinated. Even though Gatomon looked like a Pokémon and had proven to be a nice person who Meowth enjoyed to be with, he had come to realise that she was more alien to him then any creature he had ever met. For every similarity they found between Digimon and Pokémon they found a difference to counter it. He tried to imagine a world without humans, but failed. He had spent way too much time with humans to even begin to understand how such a world would work. Pokémon and humans had been living in symbiosis with each other since the dawn of time, and many scientists were convinced that one could never survive without the other. He was even more shocked to learn of another world co-existing with the Digital World that was populated by humans only, which was a world even more difficult for him to imagine. 

Meowth's mind was racing. He had gone out on the look for a rare, unidentified Pokémon, and he had found a being that claimed to come from a whole other world. He wondered if Giovanni would still be interested in the Digimon. Knowing his boss, he realised that Giovanni would be interested in anything that meant more power and wealth for himself, and as the collector of rarities Giovanni was, a different name wouldn't matter much. He was still planning to turn her in to Team Rocket, but it made him feel a little sad since she had proven to be such a likeable person. Perhaps he could convince the boss to let her join the team?

Gatomon continued to tell Meowth about her captivity in the service of the evil Myotismon, something Meowth could relate to. She jumped some section now and then, and Meowth could see that it was a subject that was painful for her to talk about.

__

What am I doing? Gatomon thought. _Why am I pouring my soul into this complete stranger? I don't even know if I can trust him?_ But it felt right, and Gatomon decided to go with her instinct even though the little, quiet but rather annoying voice in the back of her head told her that she would regret it later on. 

Meanwhile, Meowth had listened to her description of Myotismon and tried to imagine Giovanni dressed in a long vampire cape and a mask. The results almost made him burst out laughing.

"Something funny?" Gatomon asked.

"No, noting," Meowth said and hoped he hadn't upset her. It was crucial that she trusted him if he was ever going to get her back with him.

"Oh," she said. "Do you think shook the trainers off?"

"Yeah, dey won't be looking for us at night," Meowth said and notice that the sun was beginning to retreat towards the horizon.

"Shouldn't we be looking for a place to spend the night?" Gatomon asked.

Meowth though for a moment. There were some caves in the nearby hills, but going there would take the further away from Viridian City. Meowth decided that it too late to be thinking of returning, and that they had to spend the night somewhere.

"Dere are some caves nearby," he said. "Dis way."

"Good thing I bumped into you," Gatomon said and smiled. "I wouldn't want to spend the night out here."

"Oh, it's noting really," Meowth said and blushed slightly. To get the mood up and make the time go faster, he started humming on a song he learned a long time ago.

"Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth," he hummed.

"What's that?" Gatomon asked.

"Oh, just an old song I learned in da gang I belonged to long ago," he said and sighed. The last time he had heard it, it had been… _her _singing it. "It's easy, really. Listen."

He cleared his throat and sang, a bit louder this time:

Gatomon listened. To her, it sounded just like repeating "Meowth" all over again, but something in his voice made her able to distinguish something, feelings perhaps. As if she could glimpse the deeper meaning of the words.

"See? Easy," Meowth smiled. "You try."

"Me?" Gatomon said. "I can't, I don't understand your language."

"Just say 'Meowth', it's easy when ya get da hang of it," Meowth coaxed.

"Okay," Gatomon said. "Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth."

"Good, but dat was da _third _verse," Meowth said dryly.

"Hey, it's my first try!" Gatomon snapped.

"Sorry," Meowth said. "Ya have a beautiful singing wois, why don't ya try again?"

"Thanks," Gatomon said. "Here goes. Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth."

"No, dat's da refrain!"

After reaching the hills they soon found a suitable little cave. It wasn't deep, but provided protection from the wind and weather, which suited them well. They collected some dry wood and started a fire outside the entrance. Gatomon seemed to know allot about surviving in the outdoors, and knew exactly how to place the fire to provide warmth without blocking the entrance or suck all the oxygen out of the cave. While Meowth went collecting berries and other foods, Gatomon managed to create a primitive bed out of long grass and dry leaves. With the help of the lighter Meowth had brought with him they had soon lit the fire, and ate their supper together as the last golden rays of the sun faded away. They stayed up a while longer, just sitting by the campfire talking and looking at the stars. Meowth felt happier then he had in a long, long time and yesterday's fight with Jessie and James was gone from his memory. He had begun to consider the Digimon as a real friend, not just a prize to deliver to the clutches of Team Rocket in exchange for glory and fortune. This worried him, and doubt had planted a seed in his heart, which started to grow for each laughter and each kind word. 

Finally they decided to get some sleep. They curled up in respectful distance from each other on the large bed. It smelled of dry leaves and hay, which was essentially what it was. 

Meowth couldn't sleep. He lay awake, staring into the darkness. He didn't know for how long, but finally he felt something warm against his body. He realised that Gatomon had moved in her sleep and curled up against him. He listened to her breathing, feeling his mind come to rest and finally he fell asleep himself.

The next morning he woke up alone. Gatomon was already up and had left the cave without waking him up. He sat up and peered in the early sunlight. He drew a deep sigh and got up, frowning when the wounds and escapades of yesterday made themselves reminded. The fire was out, but Gatomon had cleared the fireplace and put new sticks and other pieces of wood there. He wondered where she had gone.

The thought of last night returned to him with increased strength. Battling his feelings was fruitless, and ignoring them just wouldn't work. 

"What's so special bout her?" he asked himself. "You've never let yous conscience interfere with yous work before."

__

But da oters knew where ya stood. Yous _knew where ya stood, _came the answer. _Yous were da bad guy and dey were da victims. Ya didn't convince dem dat yous were deir friend an den stab dem in da back._

He realised that his conscience was right. Turning Gatomon in to Team Rocket now would be nothing short of treachery. He didn't have many friends, and he cherished the few he did have the more for that. He did not want to loose Gatomon's friendship, but he couldn't let Jessie and James down.

"Good morning, sunshine!" came a familiar voice. He turned his head and saw a dripping wet Gatomon who triumphantly held a couple of fishes in her paw. The sunlight gently played in the drops of water in her whiskers, making for a dazzling sight.

"What da heck happened to yous?" Meowth asked with a wry smile

"Fell into the river," Gatomon explained and sat down beside him. "Haven't been fishing for a while and I need more practise. Haven't you started the fire yet?"

While Meowth started the fire Gatomon used her claws to clean the fishes. After trusting them on a pointed stick and grilling them over the fire they enjoyed a tasty breakfast.

"So, what should we do now?" Gatomon asked. "I can't hide out here in the woods all the time. I have to find a way to get back to my own world."

"We should go back to da town," Meowth said.

"Go back? But what about the trainers?" Gatomon said. "Won't they try to catch me?"

"My friends are dere, so don't worry," Meowth said. "Dey won't let them trainers catch ya." At least that was true. If he knew Jessie and James they would do absolutely everything in their power to keep Gatomon to themselves, at least until they could hand her over to Giovanni.

"Do you think your friends can help me get back home?" Gatomon asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Meowth said and shrugged his shoulders. _An _maybe_ Onix is a water Pokémon, but don't bet on it._ "Dey know people, an da boss has huge resources. Everyting will be okay, you'll see."

"Then let's get going," Gatomon said. "The sooner we do the sooner we get there."

"Yeah, sure," Meowth mumbled. Reluctantly he headed to walk to the south, taking her back to Viridian City. Back to Team Rocket.


	6. An Unintentional Betrayal

Chapter V: An Unintentional Betrayal ****

Chapter V: An Unintentional Betrayal

Note: Someone might claim that Meowth is way too emotional in this chapter and the following one, especially being a Team Rocket. Thing is, I see Pokémon as very emotional beings, being more guided by their instincts and emotions then their reason. Meowth, in my humble opinion, is no exception.

While walking through the forest Meowth was quiet. Gatomon noticed that something was troubling her newfound friend, bet didn't ask since she knew how important privacy could be.

Meowth was having a major dilemma. He had decided that he did not want to turn Gatomon in, but he had nowhere to go but back to Team Rocket. He wasn't all that sure that Jessie and James would listen to him if he tried to explain why he didn't want to give the Digimon, the only one in the world, to Giovanni, thereby totally redeeming their reputation in the organisation and cementing it in place. Deep within he nursed a fear that Jessie and James would throw him off the team if he did, even though his reason told him that they had already been through enough for him to know better. 

Finally he came to the conclusion that there was only one way out, and that was telling Gatomon the truth, that he was a thief and wanted criminal, and that he had been planning to turn her over to a vast criminal organisation. Chances were great that she wouldn't trust her after that, but he knew that it was the right thing to do.

"Look, Gatomon," he began. "Dere's dis thing I'd like to tell ya."

"Shh," Gatomon said and stopped. "I thought a heard something."

Suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared in front of them. Two familiar figures emerged.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"Oh no!" Meowth sighed.

"What the…" Gatomon said as the smoke cleared and exposed the figures as Jessie and James.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within out nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reaches for the sky above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight?"

Gatomon stared at them. "Huh?"

"Meowth! We've been looking all over for you!" Jessie said. "We've been worried sick!"

"And I see that you've managed to find that unidentified Pokémon for us!" James said and smiled hugely. "Perfect! The boss will be so happy!"

"Funny ting ya should mention dat," Meowth said nervously. "Meowth was just about to…"

"Wait a minute, _these _are those friends you told me about?" Gatomon asked.

"That's right!" Jessie said. "We're Team Rocket, Pokémon thieves and you now belong to us!"

"But…" Gatomon said. "But Meowth…"

Something snapped in her mind as she realised the truth. She turned to Meowth with her eyes burning of rage. "You! I can't believe I trusted you!"

"Look, yous got it all wrong!" Meowth tried to explain.

"Enough of this!" Jessie said. "Arbok, go!"

"Weezing, go!" James said.

The two Pokémon appeared in front of Gatomon, who had torn her eyes away from Meowth to face the new threat. Without waiting for them to strike she attacked, screaming. 

"Arbok, Glare!" Jessie hurried to say.

"Charrrbok!" Arbok responded. His eyes suddenly started glowing and they met with Gatomon's. The Digimon immediately realised what he was up to, and instinctually struck back. _"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"_

For a moment they just stood there looking into each other's eyes, locked in the combined attacks. As long as they maintained eye contact, both were affected. The Glare attack and the Cat's Eye Hypnosis cancelled each other out.

"Weezing, here's your chance!" James commanded. "Tackle her!"

"Weezing!" the poisonous Pokémon flew through the air and collided with Gatomon, breaching the contact between her and Arbok. The snake Pokémon shook his head, trying to clear it. 

Gatomon got up quicker then Weezing had anticipated, and slashed him over the face. Weezing winced in pain and fell back from her. Gatomon were more powerful then her opponents, but she seemed to have lost her fighting spirit, and could not concentrate on the battle. Meowth saw tears in her eyes.

"Stop!" he said, weakly. "Listen to me…"

"Weezing, use Smoke Screen!" James said without even hearing Meowth's request. Weezing started flying in circles around Gatomon, a black smoke billowed out of the craters of his two spherical "heads". The smoke blinded Gatomon, making her cough and choke.

"Arbok, Wrap!" Jessie said. Arbok lounged forward into the smoke. Only Gatomon's reflexes saved her from the Pokémon's attack. Instead she jumped out of the way and managed to grab Arbok's tail. She picked it up, using all of her strength and started swinging him around and around. Jessie and James stared. Gatomon was using Arbok to disperse the smoke.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaar!" Arbok screamed in panic. He was not used to be treated as a fan.

"Arbok!" Jessie shouted. "James, do something!"

"Weezing, do something!" James cried to his Pokémon.

"Weezing!" Weezing said and darted straight towards Gatomon, who was wielding Arbok as a gigantic flail. Suddenly she let go of his tail, and Weezing suddenly found himself hit by 65 Kg Arbok. They both crashed to the ground. Gatomon used the time he had bought to again turn towards Meowth, who was standing there as if paralysed.

"I trusted you!" she said. "I thought you were me friend." She took a step closer and raised her claws towards him.

"Hey, let Meowth explain!" Meowth said, backing.

"No need, I understand perfectly!" Gatomon spat.

"Weezing, Sludge!" they heard James call out. Gatomon turned her head only to be hit over the eyes by a load of foul, black goo.

"My eyes!" she cried. "I'm blinded!"

"Arbok, Poison Sting!" Jessie shouted.

"Charrr!" Arbok growled and from his mouth hundreds of small, poisonous needle-sized projectiles flew. The attack hit Gatomon like a machine gun, and she fell to the ground.

"Well," Jessie said and took a Pokéball out of her belt. "Time to end this."

Gatomon struggled to get up. She had to keep fighting. 

__

Why? Why keep fighting? What is the point? Weakened by Arbok's poison and blinded by Weezing's sludge, Gatomon's world was nothing but pain and darkness. A wave of loneliness and despair hit her harder then any enemy attack ever did. When the Pokéball hit her, turned her body into energy and captured her, she didn't even fight it. She felt herself drift away in a blessed, dreamless sleep.

"We did it!" Jessie shouted. "Team Rocket finally succeeded!"

"I can't believe this is happening!" James said and almost cried out of joy. "We are finally going get everything we dreamed about!"

Meowth was shocked and had no idea on how to react. What was he supposed to do? Jessie and James came over to him and picked him up. "Meowth, we did it!" they both cried and hugged him hard. "And it's all thanks to you!"

"Eh, sure," Meowth said and sweatdropped. He had no clue on what to do. He did not have the heart to tell then to let Gatomon out again. After all of their failures trying to capture Pikachu they needed this success, Meowth knew that.

"Come on, let's get back!" Jessie said. "I can't wait to give this to the boss!"

The whole way back Jessie and James never stopped talking about how pleased the boss would be. Meowth felt like he was going to be sick. But there was nothing more to do. What's done is done, and he had to try to forget about Gatomon. But God only knew how he was supposed to do it.


	7. Point of No Return

SC7 ****

Chapter VI: Point of No Return

The return to Viridian had been a great success. Giovanni had been pleased, as well as mildly surprised, to receive the Pokéball containing Gatomon. Together with his best trainers he had released her in a secured pit to have a closer look at her. She had not reacted when he commented how unique she was. Meowth could see that her spirit was now completely gone, and he immediately left the room. He could not bare to see her like that. Giovanni had added Gatomon to his large collection of rare Pokémon and mentioned a possible raise for the team, something the trio had only dreamt about earlier. Jessie and James had immediately started the celebration, but Meowth had retired to his bed, claiming to be tired even though the evening was still young. 

He twisted and turned in the bed, haunted be his guilty conscience. He kept seeing Gatomon in front of him, beaten in body as well as soul. After crying into his pillow he sat up, trying to clear his mind with no success. 

Suddenly his sadness transformed into rage, directed towards himself for allowing this to happen. In a cry of rage he struck out with a clawed paw, tearing straight through the pillow. Feathers were everywhere and Meowth stared at his front leg piercing through the pillow while breathing though his teeth.

"Meowth, what in Gods name…" Jessie began. She and James had heard him scream, but stopped when they saw him.

"You've killed your pillow," James said with a confused expression.

Meowth started crying again. Jessie and James looked at each other as if to ask if the other one knew what was going on.

"Meowth," Jessie said gently. "Meowth, what's the matter?"

"I tought I could take it, but I can't," Meowth answered and clenched his paws. "I can't take it!"

"What?" James asked. "Meowth, you have been acting strange the whole day, why don't you tell us what happened to you?"

Meowth realised that he might as well confess. If he carried on like this he'd turn into an emotional wreck, or maybe he already had. Trying to calm down, he told them the whole story about his meeting with Gatomon, how they had become friends in such a short time and his terrible feelings of guilt from betraying her.

"Oh, gosh," James said when he was finished. "What have we done?"

"Meowth, you should have told us from the beginning!" Jessie said. "We would have understood, don't you understand that?"

"I know, Jessie," Meowth said. "But yous were so happy over finally doin' someting right, and Mewoth just couldn't take dat away from ya."

"What are we going to do?" James asked.

"What can we do?" Jessie replied. "It's not like we can just walk up to the boss and ask him to give us Gatomon back. We can kiss our jobs goodbye."

"We can't take her from him either," James said. "Not without risking getting a new pair of cement shoes and a new address on the bottom of the ocean."

Jessie sighed. "Let's sleep on it, we'll talk more about it tomorrow. Okay, Meowth?"

"Sure, Jessie," Meowth mumbled.

Jessie stroked his head affectionately. "It will be all right, trust me. James, get a new pillow for him, would you."

"Coming right up," James said. 

Somehow Meowth was relived that his partners understood, but the guilt was still there, and he knew that there was no way that Jessie and James could persuade the boss to return Gatomon to freedom. He sat up once again with a determined look on his face. More drastic methods were needed. Something had to be done tonight.

It was late, and everything was quiet. A small figure, dressed in black, carefully worked to open the electronic lock leading to Giovanni's private collection of rare Pokémon. The would-be burglar knew that a single mistake could trigger the alarm and then everything would be lost. Avoiding or disabling the security guards had been easy. Staying clear of the security cameras had been much harder. This door, the last barrier, had proven to be the most difficult. But Meowth had some qualities not even Giovanni knew about.

Meowth concentrated harder, gently re-directing the electronics in the lock that he had managed to open. It could have been much harder, he reasoned. If Giovanni had wanted to, the collection could have been so well protected that God himself would have problems getting in, but it had never been considered necessary. No one stole from the boss. It was an impossibility. Even if you succeeded, there was nowhere to run. Kanto, Jotho, the Orange Islands, Team Rocked had a hand everywhere. It was the equivalent of suicide, Giovanni was known to have done completely inhuman things to people for being less then half as daring.

Yet here he was. A lonely Pokémon attempting to do the unthinkable. Of course, the collection was still well protected. Only an idiot stored a priceless collection of the planet's rarest Pokémon in the same building as professional Pokémon thieves without taking any protective actions. And Giovanni was far from an idiot.

Meowth crossed tw owires, and the door opened. He felt a rush of relief, but the job was only half done so far. He took a step forward, but jumped back as his instincts cried a sudden warning. It was just too simple, and not at all like Giovanni's style. He grabbed a pawfull of flour-like powder from a package within his backpack and threw it into the room. As a cloud of powder spread inside the room, thin, invisible laser rays appeared inside it. Meowth was not surprised. He had prepared for such a situation, just in case. He hurried to dig a pair of goggles out of his backpack and fastening them in front of his eyes. He could now see the lasers clearly. There was a whole bunch of them, but they had been positioned to hinder humans from getting in, not Pokémon. Meowth could easily avoid them with help of his great reflexes and dexterity. Soon he had reached the shelves with the hundreds Pokéballs, Ultraballs and Great Balls containing the most valuable Pokémon that could be found. It took him a while, but he soon found the one containing Gatomon. He reached out and removed it. Looking down on it in its miniaturised form, he found it hard to believe that such a small thing really could contain such a mighty creature such as Gatomon. His own experiences with Pokéballs were few, since he had tried his best to stay on the outside from them. The few memories he had were of a dark and depressing place. Not lonely, you were still aware of your surroundings, but the feeling of not having a body and only consists as an energy pattern inside the ball had creeped him out. He hoped that Gatomon was okay.

__

She'll probably kill Meowth when I let her out, he thought. _Maybe just as good. Better den if da boss gets a hold of me._ How she would react was the least of his problem. He had passed the point of no return long ago. The only thing remaining now was running. He navigated through the net of lasers, closed door to the room and placed the plastic cover over the code-bar the best he could. Then he hurried out of there.

Gatomon had no idea where she was. She sensed how someone unknown removed her prison from its place. Perhaps they were going to let her fight some Pokémon now. She didn't care. Deep within she knew that something was wrong with her. This wasn't her, she didn't become sad and consumed with apathy, she became angry and things were wrecked. But she was too tired. All she wanted to do was sleep in the lonely serenity of the Pokéball. Her last thoughts before slipping away again went to her friends, somewhere in another world.

__

Kari…

More then two hours later Meowth had made it out of the town and deep into the forest. He had already dumped the clothings as well as his backpack, keeping only the stolen Pokéball. He knew that the time had come to confront his sin. 

He took a nervous look around, half expecting to see Rockets jumping out of the bushes to take him back to Giovanni, who would have a good time torturing him before throwing his still living carcass to a pack of starved Raticates. When nothing of the sort happened he raised the Pokéball in his right paw, drew a deep breath and opened it. 

Gatomon materialised herself in front of him. She was crouching with her head down and one knee to the ground. She didn't seem to care much of her surroundings, and Meowth tried to think of a good way to approach her.

"Eh, Gatomon," he tried.

Gatomon's head snapped up and she turned to look at him. Suddenly the sorrow and apathy was gone, replaced by a burning fury at the sight of the one who had caused all of her pain. 

"You," she hissed. "How dare you…"

"Now, take it easy…" Meowth began but didn't make it longer. Gatomon flew into him, knocking the air out of his lungs and pinning him to the ground. Her right paw locked around his throat and she raised the left above his face with the claws pointing threateningly towards him.

"Give me one good reason not to tear you in pieces here and now!" she demanded.

"Please!" he whimpered. "Listen to Meowth!"

"All right," she said and removed her paw from his neck. "But you better make it good."

"Look, Meowth sorry for what happened!" Meowth said.

"Sorry doesn't quite cover it," she spat. "You betrayed me! I trusted you with my life, I thought of you as my friend, and you sold me out!"

"I didn't mean ta do it," Meowth said. "Well, I did in da beginning, but den I changed my mind. I was goin' to tell yous but Jessie and James came before I had da chance."

Gatomon looked at him with cold eyes, but said nothing. Her tail still whisked like a long, mad snake.

"Look," Meowth said. "I got yous out of dere, didn't I?"

"Yes," Gatomon said and turned around. "And I guess that makes us even. Goodbye!"

She moved away from him, disappearing into the shadows. Meowth suppressed a curse and got up, following her the best he could.


	8. Desperate Decisions

Chapter VII: Desperate Decisions ****

Chapter VII: Desperate Decisions

Early that morning James was awoken by someone poking him in an unpleasant way. He opened his eyes and saw five big, nasty men in black Team Rocket uniforms looking down on him. The biggest and nastiest of them bent down and looked him in the eyes.

"Get up!" he growled. 

The part of James' brain that was still asleep kick-started and he jumped out of bed. He now noticed that Jessie was already up, draped in morning robe. She looked as confused and scared as he knew he was.

"What is going on here?" he asked. "I demand to know…"

The leader of the very big and nasty men handed him his Team Rocket Uniform. "You two better shut up and get dressed, _now_. The boss wants to talk to you guys on the double."

Jessie and James obeyed, alarmed by the most uneasy situation. After dressing they noticed that Meowth's bed was empty.

"Hey, where's Meowth?" James asked.

"In deep trouble, apparently," the ogre said and grinned in a very unpleasant way. "Come on."

They were taken directly to Giovanni's office, and they both somehow understood that this was not a visit to talk about their new salaries. Giovanni was sitting behind his desk, looking as impressive and powerful as he always did. His Persian watched the two Rockets carefully when they entered the room, as if it felt that it might soon get to see something interesting.

"Sit," Giovanni ordered. They both hurried to sit down.

"I am sure you wonder why I have called the two of you in here this early," he continued. "To put it bluntly, the unidentified Pokémon you two brought in yesterday has been stolen."

Jessie and James gasped. Somebody had stolen one of the boss' Pokémon. They had never even heard of such a crime before. "Who could have done something like that?" James asked.

"Funny you should ask," Giovanni said and picked up a small remote control from his desk and pushed a button. A large painting on the wall next to them slid to the side, revealing a monitor behind it. The monitor came to life, showing how Meowth made his way into the room containing Giovanni's Pokémon and stealing the Pokéball containing Gatomon. Jessie and James stared in disbelief.

"Oh oh," James said. 

"Oh no," Jessie mumbled.

Giovanni turned the monitor off and turned to the two terrified Rockets again. His eyes were filled with anger, but when he spoke his voice was controlled. 

"Now, I know they you had nothing to do with this," he said. "Because if you had, you wouldn't be stupid enough to still be in this town, let alone this building. That is why I am going to give you this fine offer; you will have told me everything you know about the actions and whereabouts of your little soon-to-be-dead friend within five minutes and I will not introduce you to some very unsympathetic men brandishing various painful tools. Have I made myself clear?"

Jessie and James both nodded.

"Good, because I have not much time to waste on the two of you;" Giovanni said. "Start talking."

Within four an a half minute they had told him everything they knew, while assuring him of their innocence at the same time. When they were finished Giovanni looked upon them with a grim face.

"So, our little Meowth had become emotionally attached to my property," he said. "Tsk, tsk. He should have known better." Giovanni stood up. "And you are certain that you do not know were he might be hiding?"

"Is there any place he _can _hide?" Jessie asked.

Giovanni smiled. "No, of course not. I just hope, for your sake, that you have not kept anything from me. You have served your purpose, leave."

Jessie and James quickly got up and left the room. Giovanni pushed a button on his desk.

"Have Jessie and James followed," he said. "I want to know if they are up to something. Deploy every Rocket not on assignment to look for the traitor Meowth and let every one of our field agents know that there is a reward for capturing him. I want him alive."

__

"Yes sir," came the answer from the speaker. Giovanni switched it off and petted his Persian's head.

"When I find that critter, and I _will _find him, he is going to wish he was never born," he muttered.

"Well, we can kiss that raise goodbye."

"This is bad, isn't it?" James asked.

"Of course it's bad, you idiot," Jessie snapped. "Do you realise what is going to happen to Meowth if he is caught?"

"Giovanni will probably not be satisfied by only killing him," her partner nodded.

"He'll be tortured," Jessie said and James could hear the pain and fear in her voice. "They will torture him, and when they are finished torturing him they'll get _really _ugly."

"So what are we waiting for?" James asked. "We have to find him!"

"Not so fast, James," Jessie said and grabbed his arm to keep him from running off. "It's Giovanni we're dealing with now. I wouldn't be surprised if he put someone to follow us. We have to shake them before we can get going."

"Sure," James said, easing down a little. "I just hope nothing happens to Meowth while we do."

Jessie nodded. "So do I."

By then, Meowth had managed to catch up with Gatomon. He was tired and running low on energy, but he was determined not to let her go until he had found a way to help her.

"Gatomon, wait!" he called.

"Go away," she said without looking at him.

"Let Meowth help yous," Meowth tried. 

"I don't need any more of your help," she responded.

"You'll never do dis on yer own," he said. "Dammit, listen to Meowth!"

"Last time I listened to you I got stuck in some damned ball with my soul torn into pieces!" she snapped and turned to face him. "I don't need help from a traitor like you!"

"Hey!" Meowth snapped back, grabbing her arm just as she was going to turn away from him. Suddenly he felt angry. Sure, he deserved to have her shouting at her, but he had limits.

"What do you think you're…?" she began with surprise and anger in her face.

"Shut up an' listen ta me!" he said. "I've just turned my back on my only home, I've personally offended da most dangerous man in da woid, and I betrayed my best friends, my _only _friends, just ta help yous! Meowth won't ever be able to show his face in public again! So don't talk ta Meowth about betrayal!"

Gatomon was dumbfound. He her really done all that for her? 

"But… why?"

Meowth let her go. "Meowth made a mistake. He got to close to ya, to emotionally engaged. I… I couldn't just leave ya dere, 'specially since I was da one who put ya dere in da first place."

She sat down on a nearby rock and put her head in her paws. "I… I just want to get home again," she said. "I've had enough of this world already."

She felt a friendly paw on her shoulder. She looked up and found Meowth seated next to her.

"Meowth'll help ya," he said. "I don't know how, but I will, I promise."

She suddenly leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He was surprised and blushed. "What was dat for?"

"For being so unprofessional," she said and smiled. "So, where do we go from here?"

"Meowth not sure," Meowth said and pondered. "We need someone who can help yous, someone who is smart, cares about Pokémon an doesn't wanna catch us. Who could…" He snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"

"So," James said. "Were do you suppose Meowth would go if he was hunted by Team Rocket?"

He and Jessie had taken the balloon and drifted around, trying to figure out what to do next. They were pretty sure they'd managed to shake any followers Giovanni might have put on them.

"We'll," Jessie said. "He would need to go to someone who can offer him some place to stay."

"Yeah, someone who really cares for Pokémon," James reasoned. "Enough to help even a Team Rocket member."

"And who wouldn't turn him in and would protect him if we came after him," Jessie added. "Who do we know who can do that?"

They both thought for a moment, and then had the same idea.

"Jessie," James said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so," she said. "Pallet?"

"Pallet," James nodded. The hurried to manoeuvre the balloon to the south.


	9. Professor Oak

Chapter VIII: Professor Oak ****

Chapter VIII: Professor Oak

"So, who is this professor, anyway?" Gatomon asked. They had to move around Viridian City in order to reach Pallet. Since Meowth was certain that his daring theft had been discovered by now he insisted on moving under the protection of the trees, which made for a long walk. 

"Oh, when it comes to anyting involving Pokémon Professor Oak is da authority," Meowth said. "He loves Pokémon an' he is the smartest human I know of."

"So he's sympathising with Team Rocket?" Gatomon asked.

"Not at all," Meowth answered. "He really hate's 'em. Dat's why we're going dere."

"Okay," Gatomon said. "I think."

A low hum was heard in the air. As it grew in strength, Meowth quickly pulled himself and Gatomon into a shrubbery. A helicopter appeared over the forest, sweeping back and forth as if it was looking for something. Meowth and Gatomon kept themselves hidden the best they could, and soon the chopper left.

"A chopper!" Meowth said. "Boy, are dey after Meowth!"

"Then we better hurry," Gatomon said. "The sooner we get to this professor the better."

The walk took the entire day, since they had to hide for several choppers swooping by. When they arrived at Pallet they were both hungry and tired.

"Professor Oak's house is right ova 'dare," Meowth said and pointed.

"Let's just hope he'll help us," Gatomon said.

Professor Oak's day had been nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the Pokémon in his custody were taking their naps, and he himself was just about to prepare a nice meal to himself. 

"Were did I put that frying pan?" he said, searching through his entire kitchen. He finally found it and was just about to open the fridge when he heard the doorbell.

"Who is it?" he asked.

__

"There are two Pokémon outside, one Meowth and one Unidentified," his computer informed him.

"A unidentified?" he said. "Outside my house? O'boy! This must be my lucky day!"

He rushed over to the door and opened it, still holding the frying pan. 

"Hello, my little friend," he said. "I'm so glad that you…" his eyes suddenly fell on Meowth.

"Hello," Meowth said nervously and winked with his paw.

"You!" Oak shouted and raised the frying pan over his head. "How dare you come here, you lousy Team Rocket lackey?"

"Wait!" Gatomon hurried to say. "He's not all bad! He has left Team Rocket and we need help!"

"Ha, sure!" Oak said. "How much did he pay you to say that?"

"But it's true," Meowth said. "Look, Professor, Meowth knows we had our differences, but if yous don't help us we're done for!"

Professor Oak looked down on the two cats and slowly lowered his frightful weapon. 

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered. "Oh, all right, you two can come in."

"Oh, tank yous!" Meowth cried happily.

"But don't try any tricks!" the professor said. "Or you will meet the wrong end of my frying pan!"

Gatomon found that the professor indeed was a kind man who cared greatly for Pokémon. He had a huge number of them in his house, but claimed that they all belonged to different Pokémon trainers from Pallet. His fascination about her only grew when he learned that she was indeed not a Pokémon but a Digimon, but unlike Giovanni and the rest of Team Rocket he saw her as a living, intelligent being with the right to her own freedom. He listened carefully to their story while eating a late supper, which they both happily gobbled up. When they were finished, Professor Oak spoke.

"A very intriguing tale," he said. "I seem to have misjudged you, Meowth. Please except my apologies."

"No problem," Meowth assured him. "I wouldn't trust Meowth either."

"But tell me, can you help me get home to my own world?" Gatomon asked.

"I wish I could tell you yes, my dear Gatomon," Professor Oak said with a sad smile. "I really do, but I've specialised in Pokémon to the point were it has become my life, and I know very little about inter-dimensional travel and alternative worlds."

"Oh," Gatomon said and looked down on her plate. "I… I understand."

"But…" Oak said, as if he suddenly remembered something. "All hope may not be lost yet."

"What're ya thinkin', Prof?" Meowth asked. 

"I'll tell you in the morning," Professor Oak said. "It'll be a long shot, and I'll have to call in a few favours but there is someone…" he seemed to be lost in his thoughts until he returned to the present. "Well, you two must be very tired. I reckon neither of you want to sleep in a Pokéball?"

"Now way!" Gatomon frowned.

"No tanks," Meowth said and shook his head.

"Then I'll see if I can't arrange some kind of beds for you," Oak smiled. "Come on."

Later, Gatomon came over to the large basked were Meowth was to sleep that night. The Pokémon sat up when he noticed her.

"I never apologised properly for what I said before," she said. "Look, I'm sorry for calling you a traitor and all. I didn't realise how much you sacrificed just to help me."

"No, yous were right," Meowth said. "Meowth's never done anything ta be proud of. Ya made me remember a very important ting; Pokémon aren't evil, they just do evil tings sometimes."

"I don't understand," Gatomon said.

"Yous made me realise dat I couldn't go on pretending I don't have feelings for others dan myself and my team. Meowth had been tryin' to be human for so long he forgot dat he's always been Pokémon."

Gatomon smiled. "Hey, we're friends, right?"

"Yeah, we are," Meowth said and returned the smile. Gatomon had sudden impulse and reached over to hug Meowth tightly. Meowth blushed slightly but returned the hug. When they let go, both felt a little uncomfortable about the situation.

"Well, sleep tight," Gatomon said.

"You to," Meowth said.

Gatomon returned to her own bed and Meowth lay his head on his pillow and smiled. Sure, he was hunted by Team Rocket, had a fortune offered for his head and if the organisation ever got to him he would suffer a fate that would make Marquise de Sade's most exquisite method of pain and suffering look more like a sharp reprimand, but somehow he felt too good about himself to worry about that.

"Maybe dis good-guy stuff isn't dat bad after all," he muttered before falling asleep.


	10. Spark of Hope

Chapter IX: Spark of Hope ****

Chapter IX: Spark of Hope

The next morning they were awakened by the smell of breakfast. Professor Oak had already started to feed all of the Pokémon. Gatomon and Meowth sat down by the kitchen table and started to eat. When Oak returned he looked tired but happy.

"The Pokémon are on their daily exercise walk," he said. "I let you sleep a bit longer since you seemed so tired yesterday."

"Tanks, Professor," Meowth said and stuffed another pancake in his face.

"Did you have any luck last night?" Gatomon asked. "Finding a way to my home, that is."

"As I said, it is a longshot," Oak said. "You see, back in the University I had a friend named Wolfgang Schoultz. He was something of a genius and unlike the other of us not very interested in Pokémon. He had some very… controversial ideas regarding the space/time continuum. Last time I heard he was doing experiments in the field, but that was a long time ago. Yesterday I managed to track him down and sent an e-mail. I was hoping he would answer it today."

"Sounds great," Meowth said. "Wat's da catch?"

"He's mad," Professor Oak said.

"Excuse me?" Gatomon said.

"A complete lunatic," Oak nodded. "Mad as a hatter, so to speak. He's a genial madman, no doubt about that, but a madman never the less."

"How mad are we talking?" Gatomon asked. This did not sound good.

"On a scale of one to ten, one being mildly eccentric and ten being locked up in an instetute, I give him a four," Professor Oak said. "During our time at the university he was obsessed with the idea of building a time-machine to bring Napoleon to our time."

Meowth blinked. "Why on Earth would he wanna do dat?"

"I'm not sure, I think he wanted to ask him something."

"And why do we put our trust in this person?" Gatomon asked.

"Because," Professor Oak said. "He might very well be the only person on the planet who can get you home."

"There it is," Jessie said. She and James were currently hiding in the bushes close to the house of the good professor. "Professor Oak's laboratory!"

"Yes," James said. "We finally made it here."

"We would have made it here allot faster if it wasn't for those helicopters," Jessie added. "The boss won't spare any expenses to get a hold of Meowth."

"And that is exactly why we have to find him first," James said. "But how are we going to get in? The old man hates Team Rocket, and he's probably not so keen to talk to us."

"We'll just have to make him listen," Jessie said. "This is important. Besides, he cares about Pokémon, even Meowth. Now come on."

They left the bushes and quickly walked up to the house. 

"I don't like this," Jessie said. "It's a little too quiet."

"I suppose we should ring on the door," James said. "To show our good will and all." He pressed the little button next to the door.

Immediately a panel on the door opened and a robotic eye stared at them. The eye was mounted on a long, mechanical tentacle that expanded, allowing the entire construction to move like a snake, taking a good look at the two of them."

__

"Welcome to the humble home of Professor Samuel Oak," it said in a cold, robotic voice. _"State your business."_

"We would like to talk to the professor," Jessie said. "We are looking for a friend of ours."

__

"Processing request," the robot said. Immediately afterwards it said: _"You have both been identified as Team Rocket members Jessica, alias "Jessie" and James, no alias. Members or affiliates of Team Rocket are not allowed on this premesis. I must ask you to leave."_

"Now wait a minute," James said. "We are not here to steal any Pokémon, we just want to talk."

__

"I am afraid I have to insist," the robotic gatekeeper said and suddenly a hidden door opened in the lawn. Something large appeared from within the opening and revealed itself as a really, really big cannon. _"You have twenty seconds to comply."_

"James."

"Yes, Jessie?"

"Run"

With the speed that only comes with years of experience Jessie and James ran from the house as fast as they could. The gatekeeper watched them run and the huge cannon silently pulled back. The robot took a nanosecond to report the incident and the retreated back into the door as if nothing had happened.

"Well," Professor Oak said and went over to his computer/phone/TV. "Let's see if Wolfgang has answered my message."

__

"Professor," the computer said. _"The door-unit has reported that two members of Team Rocket tried to enter the building, but they were stopped by the security system."_

"Oh no!" Meowth said and started shaking and sweating of fear. "They've found Meowth! I'm done for!"

"Don't worry," Professor Oak said. "There is no way they are getting into my house."

"Yeah," Gatomon said. "Get a hold of yourself."

"Computer, raise security to level three, do not let anyone unknown into the house," Oak ordered.

__

"Affirmative," the computer said. _"All security systems on-line. You have one new message."_

"That has got to be Wolfgang," Oak said and clicked on the e-mail. The message appeared on the screen, large enough for them all to read.

__

Dear Sam.

Your problem sounds intriguing. Coming right over about 11.05 PM. Do not move until I do. Then we will talk more of this. 

Wolfgang.

Ps. I really mean that thing about not moving.

"Why doesn't he want us to move?" Gatomon asked. 

"Oh, I'm sure he means that we shouldn't leave the house," Professor Oak said. "Well, the time is 11.04 now and he were usually very punctual back in the university so I guess he should arrive any minute." He left the computer and headed for the other room. "This is exciting. I better…"

__

SHAZZA-POOOFF!

I a huge flash of light a large refrigerator appeared right next to the professor, who jumped high of fear and surprise. The door of the fridge opened and a bearded head stuck out.

"Aaooowf!" it exclaimed. "Mental note: add oxygen tanks!"

A very strange man stepped out of the fridge. He was somewhat stocky and dressed almost exactly like Professor Oak but was almost a whole head shorter. He had a huge, straggy brown beard that turned into a equally straggy mane of uncombed hair on top of his head. He wore a pair of glasses on his large nose with spiral-patterns hiding his eyes and enhancing the feeling of insanity that the man seemed to radiated. "Whahaha! It worked! And they called me mad!"

"Still the same old wacko, eh Wolfgang?" Oak said and struggled to overcome the shock.

"Sam?" Professor Schoultz said. "I told you not to move! Do you realise that you could have been depolarised or merged with the machine?" He stared at his old friend. "Hey, you've grown older!"

"So have you," Oak said and pointed at Schoultz' head. The brown hair was ticked with silver and had begun to retreat from his forehead. "It was a while since we saw each other. But tell me, what on earth is that?" Oak pointed at the refrigerator.

"It's my Trans-Space Teleportation Device," Professor Schoultz said ecstatically. "I managed to isolate and duplicate the Teleport ability of my Kadabra and with the help of Pokéball technology create this, the TeleFridge! Sure, it still has some minor bugs right now, but it works!"

"I'm sure it does," Professor Oak said and sceptically eyed the machine, which, aside from some funny antennas and wires looked pretty much like a normal refrigerator. "But… why did you use a fridge of all things?"

Professor Schoultz frowned. "And you are a professor? Because it's _cool_, of course!"

"Oh," Oak said and sweatdropped. "I see."

"So, this is the man who is to help me home?" Gatomon said with a tone that indicated that she wasn't exactly hoping for a yes.

"Hey, what is that?" Schoultz said and pointed at Gatomon. "Some sort of Pokémon experiment of yours?"

"I like him more and more for each minute," Gatomon growled sarcastically. "Meowth, next time he says something like that, stop me before I do something unforgivable."

"Eh, sure," Meowth said.

"This is Gatomon," Professor Oak hurried to explain. "She is the reason I contacted you. It's actually a long story."

"Good," Schoultz said and smiled. "Then I can fix my TeleFridge up while you tell me. Do you by any chance have some oxygen lying around?"

__

Ding-Dong!

The robotic gatekeeper was immediately activated. The two stranger standing in front of Professor Oak's door were both dressed in cheap suites, hats, very silly fake moustaches and glasses. They were both holding a suitcase.

"Good day, Mr Robot!" one of them said and smiled. "We are perfectly normal salesmen."

"Yes," the other one said and smiled even larger. "We would like to show some of our products to Professor Oak. Could you please let us in?"

"_Initial scan completed. Voice patterns matching unallowed subjects," _the robot responded._ "Targeting…"_

With the speed of lighting two robotic arms shot out on each sides of the eye. They immediately remove the hats, glasses and fake moustaches, revealing the two would-be salesmen as Jessie and James in disguise.

"Oh no," James sighed. "Not agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!"

The word became a scream as the very ground they stood one transformed into a large catapult, sending them flying though the air!

They landed far from the house and hit themselves pretty badly, but since they had experienced bad falls before, they soon shrugged it off. However, their moral was going down with the speed of light.

"That was the third time," Jessie said. "Plumbers, electricians, salesmen. We've soon run out of disguises."

"I'm beginning to doubt that this was a good idea," James said. "I mean, we're not even sure Meowth is in there."

"Team Rocket does not know the meaning of the word 'surrender'!" Jessie cried defiantly and stood up. 

James followed suit, albeit without the same enthusiasm. "How about the words 'pain' and 'defeat'?"


	11. The Mad Professor Schoultz

Chapter X: The Mad Professor Schoultz ****

Chapter X: The Mad Professor Schoultz

"…and that's the whole story," Professor Oak finished.

"Yeah," Gatomon filled in. "So, do you think can you get me home?"

"No," Professor Schoultz said and looked up from his machine. He had just finished installing the oxygen in the TeleFridge.

"Oh," Gatomon said, clearly very depressed.

"I _know _that I can get you home," Schoultz continued and grinned. "This is actually a bit of a strange coincident since I have already begun building a Transdimensional Gateway home in my lab, but I deserted the idea to concentrate on my TeleFridge."

"Why did ya give it up?" Meowth asked. "Couldn't ya get it ta work?"

"Oh, I could get it to work, all right," Professor Schoultz laughed. "I just couldn't think of a good dimension to go to, which made the whole idea of such a gateway kind of silly. Besides, I'm still trying to get that damned time machine to work.

"Still trying to get a hold of Napoleon?" Professor Oak asked.

"And I will succeed! Haha!" Schoultz shouted. "Anyway, I'm sure I can get the Gateway to work in relative no-time. After that it will be a piece of cake to find Gatomon's home dimension and send her back."

"Sounds good," Gatomon said, trying not to get too excited since she knew that the man in front of her was, at least theoretically, crazy. "So how do we get to your lab?"

"With the TeleFridge of course!" Schoultz said. "There is enough room for all of us, for I guess your little friend over there would like to come as well?" he made a gesture towards Meowth. "But now we should get some lunch! Sam, lead the way to the kitchen, we have a load of stuff to catch up on!"

"He seems nice," Meowth said as he and Gatomon stayed behind. "An not all dat mad, really." He threw an askance look at the TeleFridge. "Bat I wonder."

"Meowth," Gatomon said. "Would you really come along? To the lab, I mean."

"Sure," Meowth said. "You're Meowth's friend, aren't yous? Da least I can do is say goodbye when ya go home."

"Yeah," Gatomon said and something that looked like sadness momentarily flashed in her eyes. "Thank, Meowth, it means allot to me. To have someone to trust even in this world."

"Dat's what friend's are for," Meowth said. "Come on, let's go grab some lunch before we go."

__

KABOOOM!

"I hate blasting off!" Jessie managed to say before she landed hard on the ground. The explosion hadn't managed to blast them off in the usual manner, and they ended up only a couple of hundred meters from the house. Their last and most desperate disguise (Jehovah's Witnesses) had failed just like the other ones. James got up and Jessie could see that he was rapidly loosing his temper.

"I'm tired of that stupid robot!" he growled and suddenly had a mad look in his eyes. He started to grin. "Let's end this now!"

"James," Jessie said. She didn't like that look of his. "What are you…"

But James had already run over to the house and completely buried the door in bombs, dynamite and barrels of gunpowder. He was wiring it all to a detonator, all while laughing like a maniac. "Mwahahaha! If _this _will not open that blasted door, nothing will!"

"James, I don't think that would be such a…" Jessie began, but James had already pushed the detonator to the bottom.

For a short moment, time stood still...

A blinding light and silence…

__

…

KABABOOOOOM!

"What was that?" Gatomon asked as a powerful vibration shook the house.

"I don't know," Professor Oak said. "Earthquakes are not common around here. But I'm sure it's nothing."

"In any way, we ought to get going," Professor Schoultz said and climb into the TeleFridge. "Thanks for the chat, old fellow. It was fun meeting you again."

"The same to you, old friend," Oak smiled.

"Bye, Professor," Gatomon said. "Thanks for all your help."

"Yeah, tanks allot Professor Oak," Meowth said.

"I'm just glad I could help," Professor Oak said as they followed Schoultz into the machine. "Goodbye and good luck getting home, Gatomon."

"Stand clear!" Schoultz shouted and closed the door of the TeleFridge. Professor Oak took a step back as the machine started to vibrate violently and vanished in a flash, leaving only a faint smell of ozone in the room.

Jessie and James slowly got up and brushed the soot of their clothes.

"I told you it was a bad idea," Jessie said. "But did you listen? No! You had to bring out the dynamite!"

"O no!" James shouted. "Look!"

Were they had expected to find a big hole in Professor Oak's house, they saw only a transparent, blue barrier. The generators that had created the instant forcefield that had protected the building silently pulled back into their hidden compartments. James fell on his knees in front of the door.

"It's not fair!" he cried and started banging on the door. It's not fair! It's not fair!"

Jessie grabbed his shoulders to try to calm him down, when the robotic eye once again appeared out of the door.

__

"You again?" it said_. "Is this not getting tiresome?"_

Jessie and James collapsed. 

"Please let us in!" James cried. "Please! Please!"

"We just want to talk!" Jessie cried. "What's wrong with that? Please, show a little heart!"

The robot seemed to think deeply as it looked at the two Rockets who were crying their eyes out. 

__

"Oh, all right," it finally said. _"I'll let you in. I can't take crying!"_

It retracted once again and the door swung open in front of them. They stared at it in disbelief. 

"Well, I'll be damned," James said. 

Professor Oak felt a bit sad that he probably wouldn't see the Digimon again. He had found Gatomon to be a fascinating creature, and her story about the Digital World had been intriguing.

"But I guess she belongs with her own kind," he muttered.

"Professor Oak, I presume?" a female voice asked him.

"What?" he said and quickly spun around. "Who's there?"

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie said as she appeared in front of him.

"Make it double!" James continued as he did the same.

"Aargh!" Professor Oak shouted. "How did you get past the security system?"

"We asked it really nicely," Jessie answered.

"Damn that Artificial Intelligence," Oak cursed under his breath.

"Now, We just want to know if you have seen our little Meowth, and were he is if you have," James said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Ha! Wild horses couldn't pull that out of me!" Oak spat. "I will never tell you were he is!"

"Oh, so you _do _know where he is!" Jessie said.

"Er," Oak said. "Ops."

"Tell me where he is?" James said and grabbed the professor's collar.

"So that your boss can punish him for his treason?" Oak responded defiantly. "Never!"

"But you've got it all wrong," Jessie said. "We're his friends and just want to help him."

"Oh, do you really expect me to fall for that one?" Professor Oak asked. "I know you! You are just a couple of cold-hearted criminals!"

Jessie started to get angry. "You're tempting my patience, old man. We don't have time for this, tell us were Meowth is or we'll have to do something drastic!"

"Torture will get you nowhere!" Oak said. "I will not… Why are you looking at me like that?" He suddenly turned paler. "What… What are you going to do? No! No, please don't! NO!"

A few minutes later, Professor Samuel Oak was a broken man.

"Whahahahahahaha!" he laughed. "Stop it! Stop it! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything, just stop it! Hahahahahaha!"

Tied to a chair as he was, with James tickling his naked feet with a feather, he could not take it any more.

"You know, we should have brought our tickling robot," James said and smiled greatly.

"Enough, James," Jessie said and James stopped tormenting the old man. "So, are you going to talk?"

"They… they are with a man named Professor Schoultz," Oak gasped. "They just left in his TeleFridge. Schoultz is going to try to send Gatomon home."

"Great," Jessie said. "James, I'm warming up the balloon, you question him about this Professor Schoultz' address." She suddenly stopped and turned towards Professor Oak, giving him a questioning look. "TeleFridge?"


	12. Kadabra

Chapter XI: Kadabra ****

Chapter XI: Kadabra

Elsewhere, in another laboratory, a Kadabra was hovering above the floor in a lotus position, meditating. His trance was disturbed by the arrival of the TeleFridge, which parked itself a couple of metres from him, at the exact spot where it had disappeared the last time. He sighed and let his feet touch the floor when the door opened and a cat-like creature he had never seen before stumbled out.

"I think I'm going to get sick," it said. It then turned it's head and looked at Kadabra. "Uh, hi."

"Kadabra?" Kadabra said and raised an eyebrow. A Meowth and fell out of the machine, followed by Professor Schoultz.

"Ya could've warned us, ya know," Meowth complained.

"You get a little dizzy, granted," Professor Schoultz said. "Having your molecules divided by alfa-patterns has that effect on you. Oh, hello Kadabra."

"Kadabra," Kadabra greeted his master. "Ka-da?"

"In a moment, my friend, in a moment," Schoultz said. "Anyway, the machine works perfectly, just as I told you."

"Kadabra," Kadabra said dryly. "Ka-da-dabra."

"I know you can teleport yourself," Schoultz said, apparently irritated for not getting the credit he felt he deserved. "That's not the point! Now _I _can too, and soon everyone will!"

"Ab-ra," Kadabra said in a "yeah, right!" way. 

"Ehm," Gatomon said. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Hm?" Professor Schoultz said, as if he had forgotten all about her. "Oh, yes! Kadabra, this is Gatomon, who is a Digimon, and Meowth, who is a Meowth. Gatomon, Meowth, meet Kadabra, my helper. Kadabra, we are going to finish my Dimension Gateway and use it to send Gatomon back to her homeworld."

"Ka-dabra?" Kadabra said, slightly confused. 

"I'll explain later," Schoultz said. "Now we have to get to work, no time to lose!" He started walking towards the door.

"Kadabra?" Kadabra said and made a gesture towards Gatomon and Meowth with his spoon.

"What? Oh, show them to the guest rooms, and then come back," Professor Schoultz said.

"Kada," Kadabra said and made a gesture for them to follow him. He soon took them to a simple room with a bed made for humans.

"Kadabra," the psychic Pokémon said. To Gatomon, he had to be the most peculiar one she had meet during her visit in the Pokémon world. She couldn't really decide if he was supposed to be some sort of lizard or mammal. With the long whiskers, the symbols on his belly and the star on his forehead, along with that spoon he kept holding in his hand made him look a little bit funny in her eyes, yet he commanded some sort of respect.

"Kadabra said dat we have ta sleep in da same bed," Meowth translated.

"Okay with me," Gatomon said and shrugged her shoulders.

"Kadabra," Kadabra said and nodded. Then he suddenly started glowing and disappeared the moment thereafter.

"Whowsa," Gatomon said, surprised. "He really _can _teleport. You Pokémon know allot of neat tricks."

Meowth jumped up on the bed and closed his eyes. "Oh, I'm beat."

"Me too," Gatomon said. "It's not that late, though. Maybe a bi-effect from the TeleFridge, but the Professor didn't seem to be affected.

She also climbed up on the bed and seated herself in the opposite end of Meowth.

"Gatomon," he said. "Do yous tink he can get ya home?"

Gatomon frowned. "I hope so." She looked at him. "If so, what about you?"

"Whadda ya mean?" Meowth asked.

"I mean, when I go home, what will become of you?"

"Oh, I'll be alright," Meowth said even though deep within he doubted it. "Don't worry."

"But I will," Gatomon whispered. "Every day I'll wonder if you are still safe or not. You're going to have to hide for the rest of your life. It's all my fault, I should never have come here."

"Dat wasn't your fault," Meowth said sharply. "I brought dis on myself. It was Meowth's greed dat started dis mess."

"Yeah, but ain't it ironic," Gatomon said melancholically. "I would never have got this far without you, and now I leave you alone with ha price on your head."

Meowth sighed. "I told yous, don't worry about it."

Meowth was unsure how to feel. He was glad that he had brought Gatomon to safety and that she would soon se her homeworld again, but he also felt sad that he would probably never see her again if she did.

"Yeah, sure," he heard her say.

Gatomon awoke on the bed later. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, probably just a few hours. Meowth was still sleeping, snoring slightly. Gatomon became aware of another presence in the room and looked around with her claws ready for attack, but found that it was only Kadabra that had entered the room without her noticing it.

"Dabra," he said and put his hand up so as to say that he meant her no harm.

"Oh, it's you," she said quietly so not to wake Meowth up. "What do you want?"

"Kadabra," Kadabra said. "Ka-da-bra."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying," Gatomon said.

__

"That's okay, I have other means of communicating," a soft voice said in her head.

"Hey," she said. "How did you do that?"

__

"I'm a Psychic Pokémon," came the answer. _"Some of us can speak telepathically into the minds of others, though it is more difficult then normal speech."_

"Telepathically?" Gatomon said and tensed up a little. She knew full well what that word meant.

__

"Do not worry, Gatomon, I will not read your mind without your permission," Kadabra smiled. _"I understand that your current situation can be somewhat confusing. I merely came here to check on the two of you. Is there anything I can do for you?"_

"Thanks, but I'm cooping quite well," Gatomon said. "But there is one thing I want to ask you. About the professor."

__

"Ah," the Pokémon said and smiled more. _"You want to know if he is indeed a fruitcake as you fear."_

"Well, I wouldn't exactly have called him a fruitcake," Gatomon giggled, but then became serious. "Well? You seem to know him well, I mean."

__

"Hard to say, even for a psychic like me," Kadabra said. _"The human mind is a complicated matter, and the Professor's is more complex then any mind I have ever encountered before. He doesn't seem to think in the same way as a normal human, and mostly I have a hard time understanding him. Oh, he has got some issues alright, but he is well aware of the world around him and even if he sometimes acts a little strange, I do not doubt that he is indeed a genius. But don't tell him I said so."_

"But can he get me home?" Gatomon asked.

"_I honestly do not think there is anything Professor Schoultz cannot do," _Kadabra said reassuringly.

Gatomon smiled. "I like you. You remind me of someone I knew… once." A painful memory flashed before her mind and the smile disappeared.

__

"Ah," Kadabra said. _"Wizardmon. I'm sorry."_

"Hey, you said you wouldn't do that!" Gatomon said.

__

"I couldn't help it," Kadabra said. _"But I apologise anyway. You should get some sleep." _He turned around, but the looked at her again. _"He cares greatly for you, you do know that?"_

"Who?" Gatomon asked.

The Pokémon only smiled and disappeared in a flash of light, teleporting out of there.

Gatomon looked at Meowth, who hadn't been disturbed at all by their conversation. She decided that she was too tired to figure anything out, so she returned to her previous position. Soon she was sleeping once again.


	13. The Leap Between Worlds

Chapter XII: The Leap Between Worlds ****

Chapter XII: The Leap Between Worlds.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Gatomon asked, nervously. She was seated in a uncomfortable chair with electronic sensors taped to her head. "I mean, I'm not gonna get electrocuted or something?"

"Of course not," Professor Schoultz said. "We are merely going to try to figure out exactly where you come from. I'm sure the answer is in there, in your head. If I understand it correctly, A Digital World should be fairly easy to locate. The only thing you have to do is to think of your home and concentrate."

Gatomon did her best to remember her homeworld and her friends. It wasn't exactly hard, but the four days and nights she had spent in the Pokémon world had made a great impression on her. When they woke up that morning they had taken a tour in the Professor's lab. It was one of the strangest places she had seen, filled with half-finished machines and gadgets, some so strange that it was virtually impossible to guess their purpose. Finally they had found Professor Schoultz and Kadabra working on a gigantic machine that they soon realised was the Gateway. They seemed to have been working on it all night without sleeping. Meowth had explained that Psychic Pokémon could use a technique called Recover to regain their energy, and that they could meditate to replace sleep if they needed. He could however not explain how the Professor could still be as energetic and active as ever. And now he had her hooked up with his machine, requesting her to think about her home. No, it wasn't hard at all.

She snapped back to reality and concentrated harder. It didn't seem to work. She got a feeling that she would never see her friends again. Her friends…Suddenly Kari's face appeared before her inner eye.

__

Kari…

"Bingo!" Professor Schoultz said. "I think we've found it!"

"Really?" Gatomon said. "No kidding?"

"Nope," the Professor said, reading the text appearing on a computer screen. "Everything seems to match, let's warm up the Gateway!"

A feeling of excitement rose inside Gatomon as Professor Schoultz and Kadabra started pushing buttons and pulling switches. For a moment the inner side of the large metallic ring that served as the actual Gateway was lit up by sparks. Slowly, very slowly, an image appeared inside the ring, fleeting as a curtain of smoke. She saw a green world full of life, a forest, and deep within she knew that she was looking at her homeworld.

But then something happened. The sparks became greater, the image fluttered madly.

"What is happening?" Professor Schoultz shouted.

"Kadabra!" Kadabra responded. "Kad-kadabra!"

Smoke started coming out of the back of the machine. The image of the Digital World disappeared totally.

"Turn it off!" Schoultz screamed and jumped up and down. "Turn it off!"

Kadabra hurried to pull the off-switch. The Machine died and became silent.

"What went wrong?" Gatomon asked. She was shocked, having been able to see her home, but not even get close to it. So close yet so distant.

"I don't know," Professor Schoultz confessed. "But don't be sad, it went even better then expected, and now we know where your home is. All we have to do is find out what's wrong with the machine."

"Wait, ya mean dat yous knew da machine was gonna malfunction?" Meowth asked.

"Well, that's what usually happens when I test my machines for the first time," Schoultz said and shrugged his shoulders. "They don't work, they burn up, they explode… We're actually lucky. This time it only started to smoke a little."

"But when will it be repaired?" Gatomon asked. "When can I go home to my friends?"

The professor seemed to ponder the question for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and answered. "Oh, it should be fixed before supper, I estimate."

The very exact prediction silenced Gatomon, and Kadabra came over to her to help her remove the sensors from her head. Professor Schoultz had immediately opened up the machine and was trying to figure out the problem.

"Thank you," Gatomon said to Kadabra and looked around. "Where did Meowth go? He was here just a moment ago."

__

"He needs some time for himself," Kadabra 's voice said inside her mind. _"He must come to terms with his problems on his own. But don't worry, he'll come around."_

"There is one thing I don't understand," Gatomon said. "Meowth told me earlier today that your kind emit some kind of waves that give people headaches, and that they can cause machines to malfunction."

__

"Hardly traits suitable when working with someone like the professor, are they?" Kadabra chuckled. _"When I first came to him, things really got out of hand in the beginning. I was just an Abra then, and my old trainer traded me for a rare Magnemite. Shortly thereafter I evolved into my current form, and suddenly clocks started to go backwards, the experiments failed or blew up and the professor complained over his headache. I was still young, and I was afraid he would resent me for my somewhat… negative effect on my surroundings."_ Kadabra sighed. _"First I thought that he wanted me to evolve further, into an Alakazam, the most intelligent Pokémon known to exist. Alas, I have never been able to reach the level of experience needed. So instead I started to train my mind and harness my powers. Soon, I could damp the Alpha Waves created by my brain so that they would not affect my surroundings. As my telepathic powers grew, I learned that the professor didn't actually care about my level or evolution. He just wanted someone around to help out. Someone to talk to and exchange ideas with. And for the first time in a long, long time I felt pleased with just being me."_

"You care allot for him, don't you?" Gatomon asked.

__

"Shhh," he put a finger over his mouth and smiled. _"He might hear you."_

"Well, I know the feeling," Gatomon continued. "I have someone special to me as well. I just hope that she haven't given up on me yet."

__

"Hope can get you far," Kadabra nodded. _"You will se each other again, wait and see." _He gave her a wry grin. _"Any more personal questions?"_

Gatomon laughed. "Well, for one thing, what's with the spoon?"

Meowth had indeed left the room after the failed try to open the Gateway. The disappointment in Gatomon's face had been too much to bear. He sat down and leaned his back against the wall, trying to sort out his rebellious feelings. He knew he should be glad that Gatomon was going home soon. After all, he had sacrificed everything short of his life to help her get that far. But he wasn't glad. Meeting Gatomon had revealed a side of Meowth he had never seen before and he wasn't sure he wanted to part with her until he had seen more of it. 

"There you are," Gatomon said He turned his head and saw her entering the room. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry da Gateway didn't work."

"I was a bit disappointed, but you heard the professor. If everything works out I'll be home today."

"Good," Meowth said. "Well, good for yous, anyway."

"Thinking about your friends?" Gatomon asked.

"I can't help it," Meowth sighed. "I just wonda' what'll become of Meowth now."

Gatomon wanted to say something comforting, but couldn't think of anything. Instead she sat down next to him and leaned her back to the wall as well. "We're just two stray cats, eh?"

Meowth couldn't help but to smile a little. "I guess so, Gatomon."

"Aha!" the professor cried and held up a charred piece of circuits in his hand. "Just as I thought! The powergrid forced too much energy though the circuits, so they short-circuited."

"But what is then the source of the problem?" Kadabra asked in his own tongue. He didn't need to talk telepathically with the professor, he understood perfectly anyway.

"I don't know," Professor Schoultz confessed. "Yet." He started to walk around in circles with one hand to his head while making different gestures with the other. "It can't be the power matrix, we've already checked that. We have already singled out the different conduits in all powercells, and there is no trouble with the crystals or the computer." He stopped and looked at his Pokémon helper. "Could it be the strawberry jam?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not the one who came up with the idea to use the jam," Kadabra said.

"Maybe I should have used blueberry jam instead," Professor Schoultz said. He shook his head and got a determined look in his face. "We aren't getting anywhere. Time to use the Redeemer!"

"Are you sure you should do that?"" Kadabra asked and sweatdropped. "You know what your doctor said about the Redeemer."

"We have no choice!" Professor Schoultz shouted and walked over to a drawer from witch he retrieved a large wooden mallet. "It's the Redeemer or failure this time!"

"Please, professor," Kadabra tried. "Perhaps it's the…"

__

WHAM!

Without listening Professor Schoultz had whacked himself hard in the head with the mallet. Kadabra cringed involuntarily. The professor was now laying on the floor with a large bump on the head.

"Are you alright, professor?" Kadabra asked, fighting off his irritation.

Professor Schoultz immediately sat up. "Sector six through eighty, copy the six of the sum of the eight quadrant of nine plus four circles," he said in one breath. "Of course! The phase-packs are not in order! All we need to do is to modify the phase variance! I'm a genius!"

"That could be debated," Kadabra muttered.

"Oh, shut up and help me modify," Schoultz said. "Then go tell Gatomon that we can get her home." He did a silly little victory dance. "Oooh, I love to be this smart!"

Gatomon was even more excited now then before. The professor had assured her that everything would work fine, and even though he had a large bump on his forehead and acted a little more eccentric then usually, she believed that he knew what he was talking about. 

"Charge up the gate," Schoultz ordered as he typed different command in on the machine's keyboard. 

"Kadabra," Kadabra said and pulled the switch. The inner of the great circle started glowing once again. "Kadabra!"

"Co-ordinates targeted and locked," Schoultz continued. "Attempting to establish a transdimensional link!"

Within the Gateway blurry images started to form. Gatomon couldn't really see what was behind the thin veil of reality, but somehow she could feel it. It was her world.

"Give it more power!" Schoultz shouted. "We must break through, I'm not leaving it now!"

"Kadabra!" Kadabra replied and redirected the energy flow to substain the Gateway. Suddenly the circle filled with brilliant white light that flooded the room. Gatomon and Meowth had to shield their eyes with their paws. When they looked again, they both gasped amazement.

The Gateway no longer contained mere images, it was an opening. A hole straight through the very material of reality. And beyond…

"The Digital World," Gatomon whispered.

They could see trees, blue skies, flowers, the works. Just as real as anything. Gatomon suddenly realised that she was standing just a couple of metres from her home. She suppressed and urge to immediately jump through the portal. If she had waited so long she could wait long enough to take goodbye of her friend.

"It worked! I did it!" Professor Schoultz shouted and started jumping up and down like a maniac. "I did it! And they told me I was _mad!_ Whahahahahaha!"

Gatomon felt a friendly paw on her shoulder. She looked at Meowth, who was smiling at her.

"We did it," he said. "We got yous home."

"I don't know how to thank you," Gatomon whispered. "I… I guess this is goodbye."

They both hugged each other tightly. "I'll miss you terribly," Gatomon said.

"Me to," Meowth responded, feeling a single tear run down his cheek.

When they broke the hug Kadabra came over to them and gently put his hand on Gatomon's head.

__

"I wish you good luck on your continued journey," he said. _"I have not known you for long, Gatomon, yet it feels like loosing a dear friend. Farewell, and god speed."_

"Thank you, Kadabra," she said with tears in her eyes. "I'll never forget you. Any of you." She turned to the professor, who was still gloating to himself. "Thank you, Professor Schoultz. I wish I could repay you in any way."

"I will be famous and… What? Oh, don't mention it. Having the Gateway operating is reward enough for me. Now go on."

She nodded and started walking towards the portal. She thought about her friends. Where they looking for her? Did they think she was dead? How was she going to find them again? But such questions felt unimportant. She was going home.

Suddenly she stopped and looked back on Meowth.

"Meowth," she said. "Why don't you come with me?"

"What?" Meowth asked. "To da Digital Woid?"

"Why not?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like you have much to loose or anything tying you to this place, now with Team Rocket wanting to see you dead and everything."

Meowth thought about it for a moment. Could he really leave his own world? But she had a point, what _did _he have to lose?

"You better decide," Professor Schoultz said. "The dimension rift is straining the machine, and I can't keep it open forever."

"Come on," Gatomon said. "It's a chance of a life-time."

Meowth realised the she was right. There was nothing in his own world that kept him there. Except for…

"Leaving on an adventure without us?" a familiar female voice asked. He turned around.

"Jessie?" he asked.

"And James!" James said. The two Rockets had somehow entered the building and had just entered the room. 

"How did yous guys find Meowth?" Meowth asked.

"It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that," James answered. "I'm just glad we came in time to witness this."

"Meowth," Jessie said with a serious face and kneeled in front of him. "I want you to know that we are behind you no matter which way you chose. Right James?"

"Right," James said and nodded. "If you want to leave, it is your decision."

They tried to sound brave, but he could tell that they were trying to hold their tears back. As emotional as ever.

"Look," he said. "You two are Meowth's best friends in da woid, but yous know I can't stay here. Sooner or later da boss will get me. I wish dere was another way, but dere isn't. Besides," he glanced at the Digimon by the Gateway. "I wanna go with Gatomon."

"We.. we understand," Jessie said, but lost her composure in the last moment. She and James started crying and Jessie picked Meowth up, hugging him tightly.

"We'll miss you so much!" she sobbed.

"We'll never see you again!" James cried.

"Oh, nonsense," Professor Schoultz said.

"What?" Jessie and James stopped crying and looked on him. "What did you say?"

"What? You thought I would just disassemble the Gateway and forget about it after I sent Gatomon home?" he asked. "I might be crazy, but I'm not_ stupid_. This is just the beginning! As soon as I have modified this prototype I'll establish another Gateway on the other side. I'm sure Sam and the other Pokémon-obsessed scientists would like to have a look on the Digimon. I'm sure you two will get another chance to see your Meowth again."

"Oh," Jessie said. "Well, that's… wonderful."

"Yeah," James said. "Never though of it that way."

Schoultz sighed and shook his head. "People."

"Well, are you coming?" Gatomon asked.

"Now would be a good time to leave," Schoultz warned. "It won't stay up much longer."

Meowth sided with Gatomon and took her paw in his. The turned to face the others.

"Bye you guys," Gatomon said and waved. "Thanks for everything."

"Bye!" Meowth said. "I'll miss yous guys."

"Take care," Jessie said and waved back.

"Yeah, keep out of trouble," James said.

"Kadabra!" Kadabra said and waved.

The two cats turned to the Gateway again.

"So, are you ready?" Gatomon asked.

"As ready as I'll eva' be," Meowth said. "Let's do it."

And thus, they took the step through the Gateway. Meowth didn't know what was awaiting him in the new world, but he was sure of one thing; he was in for a heck of an adventure. And he was right.

***

Thank you for reading through my entire story. Reviews, good as well as constructive, are as usual more then welcome. For those who wonders what happened to Meowth and Gatomon in the Digital World, I'll be happy to announce that I have a follow-up in mind, which will take place in the Digital World and mainly be about it's affect on visiting Pokémon. And believe me, the effects are quite impressive stuff. However, this has to wait until I know more about the Dark Master's period of Season 1. Until then, please tell me what you think of this work so that I may evolve into a better writer. Also, look out for my upcoming Digimon fanfic, "Live by the Sword" and stay tuned for further chapters of "The Pokémon Hunters".


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